I Give You The World
by Orion's Star
Summary: An R/H story. Much death, blood, evil Malfoys, and a really evil chick! 5/17: Updated! New chapter!
1. Arrival

_I Give You The World_   
_Chapter 1_   
_(Strength of The Heart, Revised)_   
_by anime_angel2000_

  


Ron heaved his luggage out of the car and turned to look at the break between Platforms Nine and Ten. Suddenly, every memory of last year came rushing back to him. The Triwizard Tournament, Krum, Cedric Diggory's death, The Yule Ball, the confusing ordeal with Mad Eye Moody, The House Elf Liberation Front. He remembered the confusing night of the third task. Everything had become chaos, and the entire maze had been trampled down in search of Harry and Cedric. He remembered, searching, being so scared... having Hermione, her eyes filled with tears, rushing into his arms. He remembered comforting her, breathing in her scent, letting her sorrow ease away, and he felt her panic leave, as if it were a wave crashing down, out of her, and onto the ruined Quidditch field. He remembered waking up in the lake, around the middle of the winter. Harry was with him, dragging along a girl that Ron had never seen before. He remembered the wonderful, silver blue dress robes Fred and George had bought him for his birthday, and trying to think of where they might have gotten the money. He remembered the way Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had looked when they had gotten off the train and laughed inside. He thought of Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret. So many things had happened to everyone since the first year... And with that thought, he stepped through the break between the platforms.   
As he reached the other side, he saw the steaming red engine, its gold letters reading "Hogwarts Express." He looked around for someone familiar, other than the twins and Ginny. This was the first time he had come to the Platform without one of his friends since first year.   
Out of nowhere, a girl flew into his legs, knocking him over. The girl shouted, "Gotcha!" and her arms encircled a large ginger cat. However, the force of her leap sent the cat, hissing and spitting, into the crowd, while she landed right in Ron's lap.   
"Oh, ouch, I'm so sorry," she said, looking down in embarrassment and brushing her bangs out of her face. Ron immediately recognized who it was. "Hermione?"

At the sound of her name, Hermione looked up--and came face-to-face with Ron, whom she had not seen all summer. But how he had changed! His hair was brushed back, but it looked almost spiked, which kept it out of his eyes. But his eyes--that was what really threw her for a loop. His crystal blue eyes, which had always been half-hidden by his hair, now shone with happiness.

Harry finally came across his friends. Ron was laying down on the pavement, and Hermione was sitting on his stomach, both doubled up laughing. He was about to say something when Ginny came up and started watching them. Her eyebrows raised slightly. Harry looked at her, quite startled at how different she looked. Her red hair, sides pinned by sparkling blue clips, cascaded down her back in a shower of curls. She smiled shyly at Harry, and said, "I wonder how long it will take them to realize we're here?"

****

She looked down at them. They looked so perfect together. It was disgusting. She remembered how perfect her love had been. What had come of it? Nothing. Nothing but hate. And now she would rid the world of that hate. Hate that was bound to happen. She would take it from the world, even if it meant death. Starting with this girl.

****

Ron threw his cards down disgustedly. The kings and queens immediately started making faces at him, and the rest of the deck swapped places. " I can't play cards, and I hate the fact that they keep switching!" Harry snickered and said, "Guess you're a chess boy at heart, huh, Ron?" Ron frowned at the stack of cards and muttered, "Guess so."   
The train screeched to a halt. Ron grabbed a large volume from underneath Hermione, who had fallen asleep. She shook her head quickly, hit Ron, and grabbed her bags from the luggage compartment, which were stored with Harry's large wooden trunk and Ron's shabby old carpet bag. They exited the train quickly, and poured out onto the Hogwarts grounds. They heard the familiar yell of Hagrid leading the first years toward the lake. They hurried up to the coaches and leapt into them, all hungry and more than ready for a good night's sleep.

****

The girls stuffed themselves into the prefects' room, getting ready for the sleepover of a lifetime. Hermione was sitting and laughing as Lavender read love letters sent to her by a first year. Meanwhile, Cho was braiding Parvati's long hair into smooth perfect plaits and Parvati was drawing intricate designs on Hermione's fingernails. Hermione laughed as small unicorns dashed across her finished nails, stopping to play with butterflies and eat grass.   
Suddenly, Ginny, who had been unpacking, screamed. "What's wrong?" said Lavender, startled. "Oh, nothing," Ginny sighed, "Except that Ron mutilated my picture." Looking into the frame, Ginny's eyes glazed over, a star-struck look on her face. Alicia Spinnet noticed and peered over Ginny's shoulder, saying, "Just who is this picture of, huh?" Ginny snatched the picture back, and stuffed it into her sock drawer. "Nobody," she said, a sly grin on her face.   
"Speaking of Ron..." Lavender trailed off, gazing into space. "He sure is good-looking this year, isn't he? I'll bet he's been working out." Parvati said. Padma groaned, "I know!! And I just had to be a snob and be mean to him, didn't I? Oh well, it's all for the best, because," she roped her arm around Hermione, "now he's free for you!" Hermione blushed and murmured, "I don't know what you're talking about."   
"Oh, come on," Cho elbowed her and smiled. "You know we know. You can't keep anything from me." It was true. Over the summer, Cho and Hermione had become good friends, and always knew what the other was thinking. She leaned over and whispered in Cho's ear, "No!! Well.... no." Cho squealed excitedly and whispered back, "Liar!" Hermione started to reply, but was interrupted by a Ravenclaw girl, who was yelling, "Time for Dare!!" Hermione smiled and squeezed into the giggling group of girls, and suddenly, for the first time in over four years, she felt like she belonged.

****   
Hermione groaned as Parvati yanked the shades off the windows. "Good morning, girls! Up, up, up!" she cried, clapping her hands. Lavender groaned and muttered, "Now I know how she got in Gryffindor. You have to be brave and crazy to wake up five fifth years like that on the first day." Hermione laughed and rolled out of bed, pulling on the overly large, orange cat-headed slippers Ron had given to her for her birthday. In the mouth of each cat was a bloody, dead gray rat.   
Suddenly, she realized something. "Oh, no," she said to herself, "Ron has my faerie book."

Meanwhile, Dean Thomas was waking the people in his dorm up by banging a long spoon on the large silver water jug. Neville chucked Mr. Squiggles, his stuffed bear, straight at Dean's head. Harry slowly sat up and looked around the room at his friends. Dean, still half-heartedly banging on the jug, was still lying in bed. Seamus Finnigan was gazing at pictures of his new girlfriend, who went to a wizarding school in Paraguay. Neville stretched and reached down to scoop his teddy off the floor. Her had grown much taller, and now finally looked his age. Harry had seen two sixth year Slytherins throw themselves at his feet before realizing who he was. He now looked around, bewildered, murmuring, "I know I put him somewhere..."   
Ron tossed him Trevor, and Harry's attention turned to his best friend. Ron had definitely changed over the summer. He had been chosen to take Alicia's spot as Chaser, because Alicia had had a painful accident, and was more than willing to hand over her position. Fred and George had trained him every day, using the new Cleansweep 7 that Mrs. Weasley had proudly bought him with money that had mysteriously turned up in their vault. He also looked very different with his American, somewhat-spiked hair.   
"So," Ron said, turning to him, "I was looking through Ginny's suitcase the other day, and guess who's picture I found in there?" Harry smiled dryly and said, "Can I have three guesses?"

****

Hermione tiptoed up the long, narrow staircase to the boys' dorm. She was startled when Harry quickly opened the door to her left.   
"Hermione?" he said incredulously. "What are you doing up here?"   
"Well," she replied, "Ron has my faerie book, and I don't exactly trust him to remember to bring it down, so..." she shrugged.   
He looked at her skeptically, as though he thought she was hiding something. "Well," he said finally, "go ahead. He's the only one in there." He gestured to the half-open door.   
She smiled and watched him tramp down the stairs. Quietly, she slipped in the door and turned around. Ron was rummaging through a dresser that was pushed against the wall. She cleared her throat loudly, and he turned around, a white shirt in his hands. "Hermione!" he exclaimed, clutching the shirt to his bare chest, his ears turning red. She raised an eyebrow and sighed.   
"Ron, you're a guy. You don't need to worry about stuff like that." He smiled and held the shirt in front of him, mumbling, "Guess not." She thought of the situation, and a strange feeling came over her. She blushed. He pulled the shirt over his head and said, "Anyway, Herm, why did you come up here?"   
She quickly regained her composure and said, "I need my faerie book." He laughed, took it off the top of the dresser, and handed it to her. He pulled his black robes over his clothes, picked up his book bag, and said, "Come, damsel in distress, I will escort you to the lovely feast being held in my honor, for the sole reason that I have saved you," he said mockingly, offering his arm. She set her hand lightly on it and wisped, "Oh, thank you, kind prince, however shall I repay you?"   
"With your kingdom, everything money can buy, and about fifty kids," he laughed, and she pushed him out the door. Together they walked down to breakfast.

****

It was smoggy as usual in Professor Trelawny's tower. They were working on mind reading, but Ron couldn't concentrate. His focus kept chancing back to Hermione, standing in the doorway to the boys' dorm room, her cheeks slightly flushed. It felt weird, but the thought of her made his heart beat a little faster. He tried to shake it away, telling himself that they were only friends, but it wouldn't leave.   
Suddenly, Harry snapped his fingers. "I can read your mind!" Ron looked up, startled, sincerely hoping Harry was joking.   
"You're thinking about Hermione!" he whispered excitedly. Ron's heart filled with horror, and his ears turned a dark shade of red, as he muttered stubbornly, "Am not."   
"Yes you are!" Harry insisted. "You fancy her!"   
"What?!" Ron exclaimed. This thought hadn't even crossed his mind. This feeling wasn't a crush, was it? "I am not, Harry! You're imagining things?" Ron said urgently.   
"Sure," Harry said mockingly, then sang softly, "Somebody's gonna be black-mailed, somebody's gonna be black-mailed..." He winked at Ron, who was now clenching his fists in his lap. "Don't worry, Ron. Secret's safe."   
Ron whispered angrily, "I don't know what you're talking about!!" and turned away from his snickering friend.   
Suddenly, a small dagger raised out of Professor Trelawny's stores. It raised in the air until it was above the mantelpiece over the fire. Slowly, it etched words into the hard stone, making a cold, harsh ring, as though someone were dragging a million nails across a never-ending board. Behind each scratch, the wall began to bleed, as though it were human flesh. When the long ringing noise ended, the wall read:   
_On the eleventh hour_   
_In the eleventh hall_   
_There will be delivered a message_   
_The code of humanity's fall_   
_The chord only one can break_   
_Be it unbreakable, till the heart is pure_   
_And the weapon is not sword, but bravery_   
_True bravery, from the soul_   
_Will free her_   
_The messenger_   
_And give life back_   
_To the world._   
The dagger quivered and fell. The sound of it, crashing against the hard stone floor, shattered through the silent room.

A/N: Okay, took my long enough to get this up. Grr, school...   
Anyway, here it is, hopefully lots better. It's only 3 pages printed in size 10 font, but oh well.   
And!   
I know the poem don't rhyme, but I never was good at poetry, so...   
Anyway, please R/R!

D/C: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling and her minions.   



	2. Disturbed

**_I Give You The World_**   
**_Chapter 2_**   
by anime_angel2000   
11/24/2k   
Rated: PG 13

  
  
  


Cho sat in her room. It was lunch, but she didn't feel like eating. She didn't feel like doing anything. She lay down on the soft, blue blankets covering her bed. She stared into space. The silence in the room was overpowering. She couldn't chase them away. She could when she was with her friends. They eased her heartache. She thought of the summer. 

~*~She dragged her luggage to her room, alone. So alone. The pain was unbearable. How could she go on, how could she live, when she knew that someone she had loved, cherished, had gone forever? How would she live life, knowing that he couldn't? His memory came pouring back on her. His gray eyes, sparkling with happiness, as he heaved a snowball in her direction. His dark hair, filled with cold, beautiful white snow, after she had tackled him.   
She cried. She cried for what seemed like forever. How could life be so unfair? She loved to sit on her balcony, and stare at the moon. The moon, which was so beautiful, and so cold. It warmed her. She didn't cry when she was on her balcony. The stars winked at her. She knew one of them was Cedric. It would always shine more brightly than the others when she was there.   
She couldn't find comfort in her friends. They didn't know. Didn't know how it was to lose someone. Someone you loved. She needed someone who knew, or at least didn't pretend that they could make it better with curling hair and painting nails. She knew who that someone was. Everyone called her heartless. Bossy. Know-it-all. But she saw how a certain boy looked at her, and she knew it couldn't be true. He worshipped the very ground she walked on. Yet he wouldn't admit it, not for the world. But he couldn't like her like that for no reason at all.   
She was sitting on her balcony when a large, snowy owl landed on her railing. She recognized it immediately as Harry's. She sighed, and opened the letter. She gasped as she saw the signature on the bottom. Had she heard her wish? Quickly, Cho read the letter.   


Dear Cho,   
I know you don't know me very well. We've never talked, I don't think. I'm Hermione Granger, a friend of Harry's. That's why I used his owl. I don't think Ron's is up to it.   
Anyway, I wanted you to know that I'm sorry about Ced and I'm here for you. I know you're thinking that I have no idea what I'm talking about, that I've never lost love, or had my heart broken, but I do, and I have. I get my heart broken every day, as I'm sure you do.   
I just wanted to tell you that if you need a friend, someone who really understands, that I'm right here.   
Love,   
Hermione 

She read it over again and again, feeling that she had finally found a true friend. She ran into her room, lit a candle, dipped a quill in ink, and wrote:   


Hermione,   
I know this is going to sound weird, because I've never even said hi to you, but I was hoping you would write to me. I think that you are the only girl in the entire school that would understand me, as strange as that sounds.   
I'm working at an pet shop over the summer, and I wanted to know if you needed a job. It would be really fun to work with you, and I think you like animals as much as I do (at least, I hope...). You could also stay here for a while.   
Write Back!   
--Cho   


She sealed the envelope, and attached it to Hedwig's leg. She sighed happily as the owl flew into the night. She wasn't exactly sure why she wanted to be friends with the school brainiac of all people, but hey, it was worth a shot. ~*~   


They had worked together for months at the shop. She had learned about the true Hermione, the fun-loving, carefree soul that every other person had looked over. She had discovered happiness beyond a good trip to the mall. She had also discovered something in herself she had never had before. She found a part of her that liked getting dirty, didn't care about her clothes, and not caring how stupid she look when she laughed. They had had many good times together, and developed a bond of friendship that she had never had with anyone before. They were practically twins, and could almost read each other's minds. Hermione knew how much Cho was hurting inside. And she was the only one. 

****   
One Week Later   
**** 

Ron, Harry and Hermione came back from their Defense Against The Dark Arts laughing.   
"Did you see the look on Draco's face when Hagrid finally turned him human again?" Hermione gasped.   
"Forget that, do you remember when you walked in the door? He thought you were someone else!" Ron snickered. Hermione blushed, wrapping a smooth, straight lock of hair around her finger. "Do I really look that different?" she said, looking at Harry, almost pleading for him to say no.   
"Well," he said truthfully, "Your hair's behaving, your teeth are smaller... Let's face it, Herm, you're not a little girl anymore."   
"Yeah," Ron said, punching her on the shoulder, "So pack your dolly up and give her to Ginny, she still needs one."   
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, and swatted him with the small blonde halfpenny doll in her hand, "I happen to like my doll, thank you very much!"   
"Oh, yes," Ron said sarcastically, then started in a high voice, "Todd gave him to me! I'll treasure it forever!!!"   
Hermione scowled and said, "It's not your business what kind of boys I talk to, Mother, and besides, we're just friends! I haven't forgotten our promise."   
Harry smiled as her remembered the beginning of the summer. They had all sworn not to go out with anyone unless all three people agreed on the arrangement. Glancing over at Hermione and Ron bickering, Harry knew they would NEVER agree on anyone for each other.   
Finally, Hermione shoved Ron into a tree and walked back to Harry. Her chuckled. Ron came running back, and shook his finger at Hermione, saying, "If you weren't a girl, I'd..." he was cut short when a girl came up to them.   
"Hi," she said. Ron froze. All he could think about was this girl. Her crystal blue eyes stared into his, as she brushed her silvery blonde hair behind her ears.   
Harry was also taken back by her. "Hi," he said, "My name's Harry, and--"   
"You're Ron?" the girl interrupted, looking at Ron, who was staring at her as though she were a goddess.   
"Yes, he's Ron," Hermione snapped, "and we have to leave now."   
The girl shook her head. "What, are you his girlfriend or something?" Hermione blushed and looked at her feet. The girl smirked. "Well, then, I suggest you step out of my way. Ron, my name is Mira, and if you want to talk to me, ask one of the people in Ravenclaw." She smiled and left.   
"What did you do?!" Ron yelled in Hermione's face as Mira left. "What did I do?! What are you talking about?" Hermione retorted and started to stalk off. Ron grabbed her arm and pulled her back in toward him. Harry called, "I'm going back to the castle," sure that no one had heard him.   
Hermione threw her free arm up in exasperation. "What about the promise? Did you even ask us?"   
"I'm asking now, okay?" he shot back. "So if you have a problem with her, you'd better tell me right now, because if you don't, I'm going to go say , "Um, yeah, since you're one of the prettier, nicer girls in the school and you're asking me to talk, even though my friend is obviously jealous out of her mind, I'm willing to talk to you, since this is one of the first times a girl has even acknowledged me, yeah! I'd have a great time talking to you!"   
Hermione faltered. "Well," she said, pausing, "I don't like... her voice. She sounds evil. I say no. Harry?" Harry smiled and said, "I don't see anything wrong with her."   
"Majority vote," Ron said coldly. "I win." 

**** 

Lavender looked up from her glittery toenails. Hermione was asleep, leaning against a large book. The pages were stained with her tears. Lavender sighed, and blew out the candle floating above her nightstand. 

**** 

Fred's eyes opened as the clock chimed one. What had woken him up? Then he heard it again. A scream of pain, and terror. He knew it had come from the girls' dorm.   
Quickly, still in his pajamas, he raced down the corridor. He was surprised no one else had heard it. He came to a door that was slightly opened. Before he could enter, someone jerked the door wide open, and gasped. Parvati looked up and said, "Oh, Fred, thank God. Please, help. Hermione is having a really bad nightmare and I don't know to wake her up, and is that Ron's shirt?" Fred looked down at the dark shirt that read, "Beauty School Dropout," and said, "Do shirts matter right now?" 

_ She laughed , watching the girl suffer. She loved causing pain to others. It gave her an adrenaline rush, a will to live. She could ruin lives so easily. Suddenly, her hands burned. She could no longer send her power at the girl. What was going on? She returned her viewer's globe to the room the girl was in, and cursed under her breath. That boy... he was the chosen one. The one to save her. How dare he! She vowed, then and there, to kill him. As soon as she got the chance..._

Her eyes snapped open. Ron's scent filled her mind, almost drowning out the horrible dream. "Help them," she whispered, "The Great Hall. So much blood, pouring out of the doors, the windows, everywhere. You've got to save them, You've got to! Oh, Ron..." She broke down, feeling the strong arms around her, protecting her, like the brother she never had.   
Fred looked up, and said, "Should I have told her I wasn't Ron?" 

**** 

She walked the halls, wondering what had gotten into her. It was just a dream, but it had felt so real. And when she woke, she had felt Ron there. But after she woke again, there was no one, no one but the girls in her room, all sleeping soundly.   
The clock struck two. She looked out the window. The stars seemed to have gone out. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Oh, great, what if it was a teacher? Just what she needed, tonight, to get in trouble for walking in the halls. She looked for a spot to hide in, but before she could even find anything, she was turned around and pressed against the wall behind her. Draco Malfoy's face came into focus, barely two inches from her own.   
"Nice night, isn't it?" he said with a smirking tone. "Although, I don't think you should be wandering the halls this late. Someone could find the sleeping beauty, and like her." He leaned forward and licked her cheek. "Get away from me," she said. He pressed his body against hers, and whispered, "What's the matter, never had it good with a bad boy before? Well, then, it's a good thing I came along, isn't it?" She started to say something, but was cut off when he pressed his lips hard onto hers. She began to feel sick. He pulled away, and she said, "I would never, ever, do anything with you. You should consider yourself lucky I cared enough to slap you."   
"Oh," he said, sneering, "That hurt, baby. Come on, you know you want me." Keeping her pinned to the wall, he slid his hand down the side of her body, stopping when he came to the waist of her jeans, then eased his hand to the front, fiddling with the button. "Get off of me," she said, but he kissed her again, this time harder than before, and said, "Now, now, wouldn't want to alarm anyone, would we?" He slid the zipper down the front of her jeans. If she could have, she would have kicked him. Now, she could do nothing. Tears slid down her face, and she was silent. Unfortunately, he saw the tears, and said, "Oh, poor little girl, you're crying, what's wrong?" and licked the tears off her face, then proceeded to bathe her neck in his spit as he loosened his own pants. She now felt positively ill, and was debating whether to throw up on the blonde, greasy hair that continued to brush her face. She began to shake with fear. "Oh, don't do that yet, the good stuff has yet to come," he said. She felt his cold hand slide up her stomach, under her shirt...   
"Get off of her, Malfoy." Ron's voice was heard clearly through the wall. Draco turned around, his jeans miraculously the same way they were before he had found Hermione. "And what's she to you, Good Will boy? Jealous? You know I could give it to her better than you could ever imagine. Or perhaps, could you be on the same side of the fence? Jealous I went after her instead?"   
"How dare you," Ron whispered, and flung himself on top of Malfoy. Hermione sunk to the ground, shaking with fright and embarrassment, and tried to gather herself together, and stop crying. She looked up just in time to see Ron step away from Malfoy and wipe the blood from his lip with the back of his sleeve. He came over and helped her up, wrapping one of his robes around her shoulders, along with his arm. They stepped over Malfoy, who was laying in a heap, blood coming from his mouth and cheek, one eye rapidly turning purple. Ron walked her into the common room, and turned to her. "Are you alright?" He said, his sea blue eyes no longer cold, but now warm, and concerned. She tried to speak, but found only tears, tears that wouldn't stop, that never ceased. "Oh, Hermione, I'm so sorry," he whispered, and held her close to him. She breathed in, and again, she could smell him, and she felt safe.   
Ron cursed in his mind. He wanted to kill Malfoy for doing this to her. For almost taking her beautiful innocence by force. For hurting her so deeply that she would never be fully healed, but would always have this scar in her heart, that would make her close her heart from love for so long. _Damn you, Malfoy_, he thought, _how could you hurt her like this?_ And yet, the words out of the pale boy's mouth did form some sort of twisted truth. He couldn't deny it any longer. He loved Hermione. And after this night, nothing would ever be the same.   


D/C: I do not own anything. Thank you   
A/N: Okay, a bit of limey-lemonyness, sorry, but it does go with the story. Blame my self defense class. And also sorry to Draco fans, but I could see him do this, I'm serious. He's the kind of boy who would. Anyway, this is longer than I expected, but I'm gonna get it edited soon, so it may be revised. Love y'all lots!   



	3. Death in the Hallway

**_I Give You The World_**   
**_Chapter 3_**   
**_by anime_angel2000_**

**__**

"You what?!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione flushed red, and said, "Keep it down! It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything, anyway."   
"It could have!" Harry retorted fervently. "We told you what happened in Professor Trelawny's class, right? What if you're the messenger?"   
Hermione looked at him curiously. "Harry, I thought at least you had enough sense to see past something like that!" Ron glared at her, and said, "Okay, I get the hint. But what if Harry's right? You should be careful. Why didn't you tell me last night?"   
Hermione looked down at the floor and said, "A lot of things happened last night. I don't really want to talk about it." Harry looked at Ron, puzzled. "What hap--" he cut off his sentence with a sharp look from Ron, who mouthed "I'll tell you later," from over Hermione's bent head. Ron said softly to Hermione, "It's all right, I'll make sure to kill him for you." "No," Hermione said frantically, "We don't want to bring that back up!"   
Her plea was ended with an annoyingly familiar voice, saying, "Well, if it isn't the dream team out for a walk?"   
Ron whipped around and came face to face with Malfoy, who was smirking as though nothing had happened, though his eye was still an interesting shade of purple, and a large cut ran up his thin cheekbone. "What do you want here, Malfoy?" Ron hissed. "Don't you think you've done enough?"   
"Oh, no, Goodwill boy, I've barely begun."   
Ron scoffed, "What, have you taken a liking to Harry now?" Draco's silver eyes glinted with anger. "You just shut your big hole, you hear me? You don't have the courage or the money to even think of coming near me again! The only reason I haven't gotten you in trouble about last night yet was because--"   
"Because you don't want to get in trouble!" Ron exploded. "This wasn't anyone's fault but your own!" His voice then took on that usual sarcastic note, "What's wrong, Malfie? Afraid Mummy's gonna hear about his little boy having a time out? What's she going to do, take away one of your eight rooms? Or will she make an excuse for you, like she always does?"   
"Listen, you!" Malfoy roared back in Ron's face, "You don't know anything about my family! So you just keep quiet about things you don't understand!"   
Ron's fists were clenched by his sides, knuckles white. _How dare Malfoy?!_ He was brought out of his rage when cold fingers brushed his hand. Hermione looked up at him, and said, "Come on, Ron. We don't have any more business here," and shot daggers through her eyes at Malfoy. Ron turned around and left.   
As soon as they were outside, Harry said, "Now I want to know what, exactly, was that about?" Ron looked at him, and said simply, "Later." 

**** 

_ How dare he?_ Draco thought angrily, hands balled up in his eyes. How dare that stupid boy talk of the one thing he wanted to forget?   
And he tried to forget. To forget the words screamed at him. All the harsh blows, mentally and physically. He tried to forget lying in a pool of his own blood that clung to his clothes and hair. But he couldn't. All because of a Mudblood. He swore his revenge. He wanted revenge in blood. 

****   


Fred looked around the Transfiguration room. Everything seemed so blurry... and the voices. They were so mixed, some fast, some slow. Then they seemed to slow altogether, and the room became dark. So dark....... 

George waved a hand in front of his brother's face. "Fred? Fred, wake up, Professor McGonagall is not going to like you sleeping in class..." He stopped abruptly when Fred moaned and fell to the floor.   
The room fell silent. George stared at Fred, his eyes wide. "What... I didn't do anything! I promise!" Professor McGonagall stepped over briskly and looked at Fred. She muttered something under her breath, then said, "Angelina, go get Madame Pomfrey," in a sharp tone. Line of worry creased her face.   
George shook his head, and backed up. He hadn't done anything, only wave his hand... no. This couldn't be happening. No! He hadn't done anything! He wasn't responsible! But somehow, he felt that he was... It was all his fault. All his fault... 

**** 

Professor Snape's potion class fell silent as Mira walked in quickly, turned to Snape, and said, "I need to take Ron to the Hospital Ward. Now."   
Snape glared at her. "Why?" He asked coldly. "He doesn't look ill to me, Miss Gately."   
She glared back with more daring than the entire class had put together. "It's an emergency, Professor. This does not concern you."   
Snape turned and looked at Ron with a loathing that was usually reserved for Harry alone. "Fine," he said sharply. "Go, boy. Take your things. I don't want to see your face again. Take Potter and Granger with you," he sneered, "You'll probably need all the help you can get, seeing as it is obviously oh so important, isn't that right, Miss Gately?"   
She looked back at him, her blue eyes piercing almost through his skull. "Perficio Silencias. From now on, Professor, I advise you not to fool with powers you don't understand."   
Snape tried to yell back, but was silenced by a black hand that drifted over his mouth whenever it opened. Meanwhile, Mira, Hermione, Ron, and Harry stepped into the hallway.   
Mira looked at Ron, concern in her eyes. "Ron," she started shakily, "I'm not quite sure how to tell you this, but... Well, it's Fred. He's not well. He blacked out in Transfiguration today. They don't know what's wrong." Her eyes filled with tears, and Harry looked at Hermione, who's face was expressionless. However, he noticed with a smile, her hands were clenched by her sides. Ron was pale, his eyes glazed over. Mira threw herself at Ron, sobbing aloud. "Oh," she said, "I'm so sorry, Ron!" He replied with a mumble of acknowledgement, still staring into space.   


**** 

Ron sat in the waiting room, still unable to go see his brother. He wished one of his friends would come down, but he had told them that Madame Pomfrey probably wouldn't let them in.   
He looked up, startled, as Mira came out in a starched white lab coat, carrying two cups of butterbeer. "Hi," she said, softly, and sat in the small chair beside his. She handed him one of the glasses, and smiled. "What," he said, "What are you doing here? I thought they wouldn't allow visitors." She smiled. "Oh, they don't, but I work here. I might be a nurse someday, so I figured I needed the practice. I just got off shift until 11, so I came down here to see how you were." He smiled back, and said, "I'm fine. Thanks for coming. I was hoping someone would."   
"Well, your friends were scared practically to death by old Pom Pom, her rattling on about life and death things, and how no one should be in here, but it wasn't her fault that law forced her to let family in, and bla bla bla...." she turned solemn. "Ron, they don't know what's wrong with Fred. He's... well, his vital signs are going haywire, and he's barely breathing." She looked again at Ron, who was shaking his head somewhat dazedly. "I'm sorry." She started crying.   
"Hey, there," Ron said, startled out of his daze, "Let's have none of that," and put an arm around her. Slowly, the room began to fade, leaving only the darkness of sleep.   


**** 

Hermione looked up from her textbooks for the hundredth time, unable to concentrate. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Ron, who was still at the hospital ward. "Harry.."   
Harry rolled his eyes. "No Hermione, I'm not going down to the hospital ward with you. If you think Ron needs us that badly, then you go down there and hang out with him." Hermione glared at him, then started with "But.." and was cut off by Harry once again. "no, it won't look bad if you go down there even if you are a girl. "Unless," he added, "You have something to hide..."   
She glared at him, but he noticed the tinge of red on her cheeks. "That's not what I'm worried about. What if he needs his best friend? He's not going to come up and ask us, he'd rather die than ask for help, you know him!" She glanced at him, and said, "Well, fine. If you won't go, I will."   
Setting her books in a neat pile, she stepped through the portrait and ran down the hall. The clock on the wall showed that it was almost 11 o'clock. Surely Madame Pomfrey would let her in now. She came to the Infirmary door and knocked softly. A girl looked out, her brown hair tied back. She straightened her white coat and said, "Come on in."   
Hermione stepped in the waiting room and stopped. Ron was sitting with Mira, his arm over her thin shoulder. Her head was rested under his, on his shoulder. Hermione looked at the pair, and a pain tore at her heart. Tears began to gather in her eyes. _What's wrong with me?_ she thought furiously, throwing her hands in front of her eyes in a desperate attempt to stop crying. What, exactly, was she crying about, anyway? Why did she feel so strange?   
Perhaps... Perhaps she did love him...   
She ran down the hallway, unaware of what she was doing. She fled up thousands of steps, trying to go back. She tried. But she couldn't. Something was pushing her forward, up the old trapdoor she hadn't been to in so long. Her hand, almost as if it weren't her own, picked up a small dagger, which lay in front of the fireplace. The dagger burned her hand as if it were a hot coal. She tried to scream, but no sound came. She was silent, trapped in her mind, no longer in control of her body.   
Her feet took her down the long stairs, down so far... She stopped in front of a hallway. From her mouth, but certainly not her mind, came the words, "The blood starts here." Professor McGonagall stepped out of the shadows, saw Hermione with the dagger, and gasped. Hermione saw, and she understood. No. No! She couldn't kill her teacher. That was worse than wrong! She admired this woman, and now whoever had taken her body was going to kill. With her help...   
"Professor McGonagall!" she gasped, forcing her voice to come at her will. "Don't come any closer! I--I can't control myself, someone has taken over my body, and now... I think she wants me to kill you." A flash came suddenly to her, and she knew what she had to do.   
"Professor? Tell everyone that I love them all. And," she choked on her tears, "Tell Ron... not to come looking for me. Please," she begged. She forced her hands to turn the dagger around, and said quietly, "Goodbye." She drove the silver blade into her stomach. 

Professor McGonagall watched her fall. Her long, black robes seemed to catch her as she dropped to the floor. A dark, glittering cloud came from her open mouth and flew away. And behind her, Ron stood.   
His face was blank. Void of emotion. He looked down at her, and the realization seemed to come to him. He sunk to his knees, by her side. He picked up her body, ignoring the blood soaking into his clothing. He held her close to him, and he could almost feel her heart beat. Her heart was beating. He knew it. He just couldn't find a pulse.   
He hugged her gently, to make sure she didn't break. He stroked her hair, his tears mingling with her blood, and whispered, "It's going to be all right. You just hold on." 

D/C: I don't own anything but Mira Gately.   
A/N: Sorry I ended it when she died, but if it were any longer, I would die. Darkness, my other fic, ties into this one to explain why Draco gets so ticked. 


	4. Sacrifice

I Give You The World chapter 4

_I Give You The World_   
_Chapter 4_   
_anime_angel2000_   
_5/17/01_

  
  


Ron sat long after Hermione's body was taken away, trying to convince himself that she was still there. He closed his eyes, and the memories came flooding back to him. Her sweet smile, so pure and innocent. Her brown eyes, wet from crying, looking into his own eyes, pleading for his safety. And he had looked back into those eyes, and promised her everything.   
But he had failed, utterly and completely. She had died. Right in front of him. He had done nothing.   
A window flew open, and rain splashed onto the cold stone floor. A book, dropped by Professor McGonagall, opened, its pages turning. Suddenly, Ron had the urge to look at the book. At his touch, the book flew open, and stopped abruptly at a page which was stained in blood. He skimmed through it, and looked around the hallway. He spotted the small knife, still soaked in Hermione's blood. "Perfect," he murmured. 

Ron raced through the rain, drenched. Hermione's dagger was clutched to his chest, the blood from it staining his dark shirt. He kept running, barely aware of his cold, bare feet sloshing in the deep puddles. He didn't know what, exactly, he was looking for, but he knew he would find it somewhere, and that he would know what it was, when he found it. If he found it.   
Looking up through his hair, plastered to his forehead, he saw a large statue of a faerie. He had never seen something like this in Hogwarts before. It glowed with an almost holy light, its surface untouched by the sheets of water. The innocent face of a girl looked down on him, and suddenly he felt sheltered by her carefully sculpted wings, her peasant's sash. In her hand, she held a knife, with the exact resemblance of the one in his hand. Seeing this, he remembered what he was out here for.   
He stood, looking up at the girl, and took the dagger in his hand. He held out his wrist, and drew a thin line along his skin. He winced at the pain, his blood falling to the ground before a pair of bare, stone feet. He threw his head back up, as lightning thundered. "You want a life?" He yelled, barely standing, fighting torrents of wind and water. "Here!" Lifting out his wrist, he said, "Take mine! Give her back!!!"   
His blood seemed to glow almost unnaturally. The faerie came to life with a blinding array of colors. She let down a pale, yet soft peach, hand, and lifted him off the ground. A voice echoed in his ears, "Very well." 

**** 

Hermione's eyes opened. She felt dizzy, as if she had spun in circles too long, and lost her balance. A white cloth was laid over her entire body, including her head. Her hair had been adorned with small white flowers, matching an expensive silk robe. White cloth, and robe...flowers.... This meant one thing. She had woken from the dead.   
She took her fingers from a bouquet of white lilies and lifted the shroud from her head. The room around her was dimly lit. She had been placed on a cold concrete bed lined in gold. Rose petals surrounded her. Golden candles hovered above her, casting eerie light around the room. Her ghostly white prison. 

**** 

Ron woke to warm, sweltering darkness. He began to move, but stopped abruptly when he heard a small hiss and felt something large drop onto his bare chest. A hairy, 8-legged something....   
His heart skipped a beat.   
He tried to concentrate on keeping his breath normal. the spider, easily as big as his outstretched hand, crawled up to his neck. "Hey there, buddy," he said, panicking, "How about you move away so I can just get up?"   
Seeing as the spider had no intention of moving, Ron slowly stood up, acting as though balancing a book on his head, careful not to move his neck. The spider, however, decided it didn't like Ron's choice of movements. It hissed in his ear. Ron, who had been standing on a thin ledge, lost his footing, and fell.   
He heard a loud crunch as he hit the ground. He knew it wasn't from his body. Then, as he stood up, he felt what was beneath him. Spiders. Millions of them, climbing over his bare feet, sinking their small fangs into his skin. The large spider on his neck struck, just above his shoulder. His vision became cloudy. His whole body shuddered with the feeling of oncoming death. His skin was numb, now unfeeling to the spiders climbing all over him. He just wanted to lay down, to lay down and sleep...   
Suddenly a picture came to him. A smiling face looked at him through the fog in his head, and he knew, somehow, that he had to get to the light. He started running. His legs were struggling to cut through the wall of insects. He felt strange, as if he could not control his body. He tripped. Fell among the spiders, which tried to bury him under their own small bodies. He struggled, crawling toward the entrance. He was almost there... almost....   
  
****   
Harry sat, numb with shock, as teachers raced around him. Almost the entire lot of Gryffindors had been taken to the infirmary, all with the same symptoms as Fred. He wondered what it was. Ginny sat next to him, asleep. She was too tired to cry. He was as well. Or maybe he was too in denial to do much of anything. Both of his friends were gone. Hermione dead, and Ron most likely at the same fate. He closed his eyes, remembering every day the three had spent together. Now the only two things he had left to remind him of his best friends were a dead body and pictures. He looked to his side, at Ginny's tear-stained face buried in his shirt, her red hair falling across her thin shoulders. Almost in a dream, he ran his fingers through her soft hair, a river of spun fire. He knew that Ron had spent his life protecting the small angel at his side. Now it was Harry's turn. 

**** 

He fell. His eyes were closed. He didn't dare open them. He could feel swirling air currents, almost hear them seep into his skin. His skin prickled as the dark, thick, cold air penetrated his being. Then, as suddenly as he had fallen, he stopped. He hit the cold, rocky floor with his shoulder, and was forced to open his eyes.   
A dark room loomed before him, its dark, barred windows holding a landscape more menacing than the room itself. In one corner lay a pile of white, blood-soaked rags.   
Lightning flashed outside, lighting up the dark room for an instant, and he saw the blanket move, shaking slightly. Suddenly, the blanket rose sharply, then sank to the ground, revealing a feminine silhouette. Waving hair fell slightly past the shoulders of the girl, who was apparently wearing the white cloth. Lightning flashed again, and a torch on the wall jumped to life. He looked, with a gasp, on the pale arms, slashed open, bleeding heavily, the bruised shoulders, the ghostly face of Hermione.   
  
**** 

She wandered slowly down the hallway, wondering what she was looking for. She passed the Gryffindor locker room, looking inside slightly. She saw, to her shock, the entire pile of broomsticks, smashed. Splinters hovered in the air, casting dark shadows on the ruin. She did not see the Firebolt among the shards.   
She started running, parts of her long dress tearing away effortlessly. Her cold feet hit the soaked grass, and she peered up through the pouring rain. She had come to the foot of a large statue. The pearly face looked innocent, yet sad. Overcome with sudden grief, she looked down at her cold, pale feet, and noticed the blood puddled around them. Scared, she leaned down, running her hands underneath her feet, and stopping when one of her hands came to a sharp edge. She quickly stepped away from where she was standing, and looked down again. There was a dagger. The dagger. Drenched in his blood.   
Suddenly frantic, she picked it up and flung it into the air, at the newly raised angel statue. It disappeared in the large granite hands. And then she fell. 

**** 

He stared into her white face, surprised as it suddenly flashed with anger. "How dare you," she said, trembling with rage, "even set foot here?"   
Shocked, he took a step backwards, stuttering, "What?" She glared at him, tossing her hair. "You betrayed me," she spat, hushing his protest by adding, "Don't deny it. You hurt me every day. See this?" she said, holding out he slashed arms. "These are from you. Every single one."   
She traced one of the more recent cuts with her finger, then stepped toward him. He opened his mouth to speak, but she put her red finger to his mouth, drawing it across his lips. "Sh..." she said, "just feel the power. Don't you love it? Can't you taste it? You made it. Why don't you love it?" The smell of blood was beginning to make him sick, but he couldn't get rid of it.   
She smiled innocently, and drew the same broad red line on her own lips and tongue. Before he knew what she was doing, she kissed him. Not the first, sweet, I-kind-of-like-you kiss. It was a kiss of revenge, full of hate and love and angst. He could taste the blood in his mouth. He pushed her away, saying, "You're not the real Hermione."   
Her eyes widened. "I'm not?" she said, vulnerable, her lip quivering. A cut on her arm appeared from nowhere, and blood splashed on the stone floor. She fell to the ground, crying, and he ran to comfort her. He embraced her quivering form, and she seemed to calm in his arms.   
Then he felt a sharp pain in his gut. She looked up, and ripped open his stomach with her dagger. "Love me now, don't you?" she smiled. "You want to comfort me. I felt it." And she laughed, a laugh of triumph. She handed him the dagger, rich with his blood, and held her hands behind her back, pulling her hair away to reveal her neck. "Do it," she whispered, "kill me. I know you want to. I know you can. No one will stop you in here. It's just you and me." Her eyes flashed with impending vengeance.   
"No," he whispered, then shouted, "No!" She sat back in surprise, and the world spun before his eyes. 

* 

He landed with a thud on his back, and choked on blood rising to his throat. He groaned, rolling over on his side. His eyes were scrunched shut in a vain attempt to stop the severe pain in his stomach, and he knew not all of the water running off his face into the grass was from the rain ahead.   
He heard a soft rustling in the grass, and his eyes opened quickly. A pair of bright, brown eyes stared back at him, and a hand brushed his hair from his eyes. "Hermione?" he whispered, amazed. She smiled. 

_A/N: Oh... my....god! I haven't written anything in this for SO LONG!! Argh! I think now that it more than kind of sucks, but I've already put more than half of it out, so... ahh, the laments of Boz. Oh well, tried to make this part interesting... there'll be maybe 1 or 2, possibly 3 more installments. Love y'all! --Anna___

_D/C: Not mine_


End file.
